Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Following Prescribed Burning in a Suburban Native Forest of South-east Queensland

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Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Natural Sciences
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Prescribed burning can play an important role in forest maintenance and management worldwide. Australia is one of the few countries around the world with knowledge and experience in the use of controlled fire for fuel management and ecological purposes. In Australia, prescribed burning, has been used to meet several objectives including protection of forests against wildfires through managing fuel loads, ecosystem maintenance by increasing vegetation, and elimination of pests and diseases. Climate change and the increases in the incidence and severity of wildfire push forest managers to establish prescribed fire regimes with low severity prescribed burning to protect housing and infrastructure from wildfire damage. Prescribed burning has become a more frequent management tool in suburban forests, leading to alteration in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of forest soils. Fire influences ecosystem patterns and processes by affecting vegetation diversity and structure, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and other nutrients cycles, but these effects are dependent on fire regimes (e.g. frequency and severity). The interval between fires is critical in forest management because the long interval period burns may allow a potentially severe fire hazard to exist, while burning frequently with short interval period may result in loss of soil fertility leading to ecosystem vulnerability.